Kirk’s anti-gang push has suburban roots
U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk’s push to curb street gang violence in Chicago has roots in similar efforts he made as a suburban congressman representing a district where he and other officials said more federal help could help them fight back.
Now, the Highland Park Republican wants $19.5 million in federal money and an Illinois coordinator to help fight gangs statewide.
“For every 1,000 Illinois citizens, six are in a criminal gang,” he said this week. “That’s the highest in the country.”
Some of the money Kirk is calling for would end up with a federal law enforcement task force for the Great Lakes region that includes two DuPage County Sheriff’s deputies.
It’s familiar territory for Kirk. In 2009, he pushed for the creation of a federal anti-gang task force and helped put together a top 10 list of most wanted gang members in Lake County.
Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran says there are 3,000 gang members in the county, and the heroin they bring can cause problems throughout the suburbs.
“People are just terrified as to what’s happening with the drugs,” Curran said.
Curran says the coordinator Kirk is calling for would help because federal law enforcement often has more resources to trace the sources of gangs’ drugs.
“You want to know what the pyramid looks like,” Curran said. “You want to know who’s on top of the organization.”
Kirk has taken heat for a suggestion that as many as 18,000 Gangster Disciple members be arrested at once. In criticizing the idea as impractical, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, a Chicago Democrat, called him a “white boy.”